1. Field of the Invention
Apparatuses consistent with the present invention relate to a forged iron head and a golf club having the same, and more particularly, to a forged iron head which includes a hollow part, and a golf club having the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, golf players are on the rise both worldwide and nationwide. Unlike sports such as football, basketball and volleyball, golf is easy to play without limitation for physical conditions and is played under responsibilities of players. As golf is not violent, a wide range and variety of players including men, women, senior citizens and young people can enjoy it. Golf players may be in different genders, have large age gaps or performance gaps. Golf can be played by such various players competing with each other (e.g. by using handy cap, different tee box and teaming).
In golf, a plurality of golf clubs is used to hit a golf ball and winners are determined by the number of strokes until the golf ball is put in the determined hole cup. Here, the golf club used is controlled by rules. Any golf player desires to improve his/her play with a more efficient tool to thereby lower scores.
Thus, manufacturers who offer various types of golf equipment are meeting such demand and it can be recognized that there have been substantial development in various areas. Manufacturers have made every effort to develop good products from the material and shape of a driver or an iron head to shape and material of a shaft to a golf ball, and introduced new products.
Unlike other sports, golf is a sport that sensitively reacts to a swing posture of a player, a type of a golf club, a grip status of a handle part and mentality of a player. Accordingly, it is very important to select an appropriate golf club together with address, swing posture, etc. to improve performance/scoring of a player.
If a player hits a golf ball from fairway or green with a face of a head of a golf club, the golf ball progresses in a desired direction due to impact and repulsive force. As flight distances and direction of the golf ball may vary depending on the volume of the head and an inclination of the face, a player should select an appropriate golf club.
The number of golf clubs that a player may have in the game is typically limited to 14 golf clubs, which is called a full set. The full set includes four woods, nine irons and one putter.
An wood which is used to make a first shot or launch a golf ball to long flight distances includes a driver, a brush, a spoon, a buffy, a cleek, a heaven, a nine and an eleven. Among them, the driver is longest and hits the golf ball farthest.
The iron is used to hit the golf ball toward green after the firs shot, and includes golf clubs from no. 1 to no. 9. Each iron has different angles (about four degrees for each iron) of a face and a length of a shaft. When hitting the golf ball, the irons have different flight distances, typically 10 m different for each. The smaller the number of the iron is, the longer the flight distances are.
The golf club includes a head which has a hosel coupling a face as a hitting surface with respect to the golf ball and a shaft, a shaft coupled with the head and a handle part which is provided in an end part of the shaft to be gripped. The face of the head is coupled with a crown or a top as an upper part of the head and a sole as a lower part of the head by welding. That is, the head is shaped in several parts as necessary. The parts may be coupled with each other by TIG welding, MIG welding, laser welding, electron beam welding.
The golf club is an only device that moves the golf ball in the game. That is why the golf club has been the focus of technical studies and improved considerably in recent years.
Recently, the head is manufactured by various materials or a structural shape of the head is changed to improve flight distances and accuracy. If the head is manufactured, weight, material and strength of the head and a thickness of the face should be considered to improve performance of the golf club.
It is important to select a proper golf club together with efforts to hit the golf ball with a sweet spot accurately to improve the performance of a player. Particularly, it is very important to improve direction and flight distances of the golf ball by reducing the weight of the head accounting for a considerable portion of the weight of the golf club.
It is known that if a player hits a golf ball from a center of gravity of the head or from a sweet spot adjacent to the center of gravity of the face surface of the head, flight distances and direction of the golf ball improves. While the increased volume and weight of the head raises the dimension of the sweet spot, air resistance or drag force increases. Accordingly, hitting speed of the ball is reduced.
A factor which determines a direction of the golf ball about whether the golf ball flies in an intended direction is a center of gravity of the head. That is, if the center of gravity is positioned in a rear side of the face hitting the golf ball, the golf ball substantially flies straight. However, if the center of gravity is positioned in a lateral side of the face hitting the ball, the golf ball is curved in a left or a right side, which is called a hook or slice. If the center of gravity is positioned in an upper or lower side of the face hitting the golf ball, the golf ball flies down to the ground or is launched to a high trajectory.
It is known that the iron includes a metal such as wrought iron, titanium alloys, aluminum alloys, meraging, etc.
The most important purpose of such iron is to approach the ball from fairway to a hole cup of green to the maximum. Thus, a player generally uses irons selectively as each iron has different head weight and face angle.
A metal head may achieve a lowered centroid by giving more weight to a sole. Also, a volume of the head increases to extend the sweet spot.